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Dear Parent/Carers,

Here we are at the second last week of Term 2! What a great term it has been with lots of wonderful activities and programs that our students and staff have enjoyed. After the past 2 years of COVID restrictions, it has been especially lovely for staff and students to be able to enjoy various excursions and incursions once again.

Next week it is very exciting for the Senior Performing Arts staff and students to be able to host a production to audiences once again after 2 years of modified productions in alignment with COVID 19 restrictions. This year the production is called Showcase, and it will be held at the FARM Campus next Tuesday and Wednesday as day events. Students have been able to invite 2 Parents/Carers to pre-purchase tickets so they can come and watch the performance on Tuesday. On Wednesday, selected community groups will be attending. We are really looking forward to seeing the Senior school production with an audience again, along with watching all the hard work of involved students and staff over the last 2 terms come to life.

In Student Wellbeing news, we are very pleased to be offering ‘Peaceful Kids’, an evidence based meditation and mindfulness program designed to build resiliency, coping skills, and reduce anxiety in children and teens.
We will be introducing this program for students during term 3, ages 7- 18, that have been previously identified as struggling with anxiety, intrusive thoughts and excessive worrying. The program will run for 8 weeks during the term, where parents will receive weekly updates on their child’s progress, and activities to assist children at home. As the Program is designed to have groups of 4- 6 students, we will be working through the school community via referrals assigned to Wellbeing, via the child’s teacher and parent. If you think your child would benefit from this program, please contact your child’s teacher. For a chat about this program or further information, please contact Greg Middleton, Student Wellbeing at the Farm Campus, or Tara Cameron, Student Wellbeing at the Gillies Street Campus on 53341302.


Students Semester 1 reports will be available to families via Compass by the end of term. More information about report availability will be communicated to you soon.

Since this is the last newsletter for Term 2, I hope all our students and their families enjoy the school holidays. A reminder that school will finish at 2pm next Friday.
 
Kind regards,
Principal Class Team
Term Dates 2022
Term 1 Students commence 1st February to 8th April
(Prep students commence 3rd February)
Term 2 26th April to 24th June ( 2pm finish)
Term 3 11th July to 16th September
Term 4 3rd October to 20th December
Other Important Dates
Senior School Showcase- Tuesday & Wednesday 21st & 22nd June 2022
Special Olympics Basketball
HeadStart success for Brendan
People Outdoors- Family day
Primary School News
 

PLC1 News

Recently, our grade 5 and 6 students had Leading Senior Constable of Police, Brendan Everard, come and teach us when we can call for help and what that help looks like from the police force. Students also got to inspect inside a police vehicle, and the sirens were used a few times, and they were so loud! We also finish our swimming lessons next week, concluding a very fun and successful term at the Ballarat Aquatic Centre. Well done to all staff and students who participated.
 

PLC2 News

Room 30 has been enjoying a term full of new and exciting things. We have been learning how to complete the high jump in P.E with Craige; some students are up to 30cm and keep going higher! In Numeracy, we have been focussing on shape, so Angela was nice enough in the library to introduce us to a cool program called Osmo. Students had to bring out their creative side and use their shape knowledge to build the animal or object; it was safe to say students didn’t want to leave the library that day.

PLC3 News

In PPLC3, we have been exploring the books, A Very Busy Spider and The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. We have engaged in various sensory activities such as shaving foam and texture play. Also, we have had fun practising our counting and fine motor skills with winter-themed objects such as fake snow, making snowmen and rain drops. Finally, we have greatly enjoyed practising our transitions throughout the school to learn to play, therapy gym and the library.
 
PLC4 News

The last two weeks have seen the PPLC4 classes try to stay warm and dry as we explore the outdoor playgrounds and the beautiful weather that winter brings. Students have shown curiosity and enthusiasm in learning about the autumn leaves and the winter puddles in the playgrounds. On those days when the rain was too much to get outside, students resorted to the warmer areas of the school, such as the library and the small gym area.

Below is a photo of Kaitlin enjoying the leaves during outside play and Nash reading in the library.

 
Middle School News

MPLC1 News

Winter is well and truly here. In MPLC1, we have been braving the elements when we can but due to the rain, we have spent a few days stuck inside. Swimming has wrapped up this week and it has been great to see the student improve their skills and knowledge of swimming and water safety. Below is a ‘Student Highlight’ from each classroom.

Room 38: Alexa Pettigrew (pictured below left) – Alexa has proven to be responsible by always completing her class jobs and tasks assigned to her. She is always respectful to her peers and staff a like and is a polite and a supportive student. She has shown resilience in her everyday tasks and always completes tasks to the best of her ability. She has proven herself in every aspect to be our star student of the week.

Room 45: Tyson Cody (pictured below right) – Tyson has had an outstanding month in the Middle School. He thrives on helping staff with jobs around the school, he has improved his work output in the classroom and displays a great attitude when playing soccer outside at lunch times. Well done Tyson!

Room 46: Kevin Goon (pictured below left) – Kevin moved into Room 46 midway through Term 2 and has settled in extremely well. Kevin is now comfortable in his new environment and is building positive relationships with the students and staff. We are excited to see Kevin’s growth through the second half of the year!

Room 47: Jesse Thomas (pictured below right) – Jesse consistently tries his hardest and gives 100%, even when he finds things challenging. It has been fantastic to see Jesse's improvement with his handwriting in streaming, and how proud he is. Keep up the terrific effort next term Jesse!


MPLC2 News

MPLC2 have had a wonderful term! Students have worked really hard in a range of activities. Swimming has finished for the term, where students have learnt about the importance of water safety, while learning new skills in the pool. We wish all families a safe and relaxing holiday as we head into the final week of term 2! 
 
Some student highlights for each classroom in MPLC2 are: 
 
Room 39: Connor Cassar (pictured below right) has provided this term with a fantastic attitude towards his school work, always striving to improve. He has also developed great friendships, always showing his classmates respect and great support.  
 
Room 40: Patrick Magee (pictured below left) has had a fantastic term and leading by example in his classroom. He has shown to be a great role model, always providing fantastic manners and taking great pride in his work! 
 
Room 41: Hayley Murray (pictured below bottom) has moved into our classroom this term with no fuss and a fantastic attitude. She has provided the classroom with calmness and being a great friend to everyone. 
 
Room 42: All students in room 42 have had a productive term, with everyone working extremely hard. We have been able to work on many skills and provided a safe, friendly working environment for all students. Well done to all students in room 42! 
 
Room 43: Room 43 has had some great work ethic this term! Savannah Warwick (not pictured) has shown that she has had great work ethic and has been able to produce some amazing work this term! 
Senior School News

It is hard to believe that we are coming towards the end of the term. We have a busy final week planned that will mean changes to familiar routines. Students have had the opportunity to build upon their skills in the performing arts field. Many of our students enjoy regular music lessons, which vary from learning to play an instrument, singing, dancing and also the ‘behind the scenes’ aspect of performing arts. On Monday students are scheduled to run through the ‘Showcase’ which will lead to the first time students have been able to perform in front of a live audience in quite some time. Tuesday we welcome the students’ friends and families to view the show. Please note that tickets have been purchased through the QKR app. Then on the Wednesday community groups are coming into watch the Showcase to build connections with the wider community. We wish all students, both on stage and off stage, all the very best for the three days. A special thank you to Amy and Chris who have been working tirelessly to ensure the students are afforded with this exciting opportunity.

Last week saw our second week of students head on an excursion to building their skills towards establishing a rowing team. Students went to the rowing shed and were put through their paces on the rowing machines. They are very excited, and some a little nervous, to be heading out onto the water next term.

On Wednesday this week, students from across the Senior School went to a moving presentation by the Pat Cronin Foundation. The purpose of the sessions are to share ‘Pat’s Story’; a victim of the coward punch as well as to develop strategies to assist students to help mates when anger turns to violence. It was explained to students that the emotion ‘anger’ is ok to feel, however, it is never ok to turn to violence. Our well-being staff were present during the session, and were able to offer support to students if required.

This Semester has seen our very first semester of onsite VCAL learning since we rolled out the curriculum in 2020!! Being able to get out and about, as well as have members of the public come to the campus for incursions has proven to be extremely beneficial in providing ‘hands-on’ and ‘real-life’ opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding of learning outcomes. When you receive your child’s report, and if they are enrolled in VCAL, you will be able to see which learning outcomes students have satisfactorily completed. This carries over from year to year. As VCAL is a flexible curriculum, students are exposed to learning outcomes throughout the 12 month period. Students are enrolled for the 12 month period not semester by semester. Therefore, we use ‘currently in progress’ this is for any learning outcomes that the student has not satisfactorily completed yet, but are enrolled in.

We look forward to sharing the many success stories in student reports and when SSG meetings occur.

From the staff and students in Room 5 with James, they would like to wish Eric a very Happy 18th!

All the staff from the Senior School

Photo 1: Tiarah Head enjoying work experience at Sovereign Hill.
Photo 2: Eric wearing his birthday shirt very proudly.
Photo 3: Students at the Wendouree Rowing Shed.
Photo 4: (From left) Brandon, Tahlia, Josh, Eloise and Sky are the MC Electric band.
NAIDOC WEEK


What is NAIDOC Week?

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated by all Australians and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
 

When is NAIDOC Week in 2022?

NAIDOC Week will be held 3-10 July 2022.
NAIDOC Week is usually held in the first week (a Sunday to Sunday) of July that incorporates the second Friday – which historically was celebrated as 'National Aboriginal Day'.

How is Ballarat celebrating? 
This year is a flag raising, smoking ceremony and welcome to country at BADAC at 10am on Monday 5th July followed by a walk to the Ballarat cemetery at 10.30am to pay respect to Mullawallah and hold a morning tea for community.
Would you like to join the BSS Parents and Friends Association?

We are looking at forming a Parents and Friends Association at Ballarat Specialist School. This group will offer an opportunity for parents/friends/carers to gather and become involved in the life of the school. This group may take many forms and provide support for the school in areas such as:
  • Social functions
  • Fundraising for needs in the school
  • Information sessions
The Parent and Friends Association does have a different focus than the Parent Group currently at Ballarat Specialist School. It is not to replace the Parent Group which meets once a fortnight. The focus of the Parent and Friends Association is fund raising and social networking for parents/carers outside of the school.

If you are interested in being a part of this group, please contact Kerrie Franc at
kerrie@ballaratss.vic.edu.au
Conveyance application form
Ballarat Specialist School acknowledges the Wadawurrung people as the traditional custodians of these lands on which we come to learn. We pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Copyright © 2022 Ballarat Specialist School. All rights reserved.

Gillies Street Campus address:
25 Gillies Street North, Lake Gardens VIC 3355

FARM Senior Campus address:
800 Norman Street, Invermay Park VIC 3350


Phone: 53341302
Email: ballarat.ss@education.vic.gov.au
Web:
www.ballaratss.vic.edu.au






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Ballarat Specialist School · 800 Norman St · INVERMAY PARK, VIC 3350 · Australia